7 overlooked albums from 2017

Peter Chianca pchianca@wickedlocal.com @pchianca

Tuesday

Feb 13, 2018 at 2:00 PM

It happens every year -- no sooner do I compile my year-end music lists than I come across another stash of great albums that somehow eluded me. (Sometimes they’re on other people’s lists; sometimes I just forgot to get around to listening to them.)

For penance, I’ve compiled a list of seven albums that probably should have made it on my rundown of favorite releases in 2017, had I discovered them sooner. Give these a listen so I won’t feel as guilty.

“I Love You Like A Brother,” Alex Lahey. The 25-year-old Australian’s full-length debut is chock full of irresistibly catchy, ’80s-style power pop and moments of casual lyrical brilliance, from the winking party vibe of “Every Day’s The Weekend” to “Backpack,” a knowing ode to commitment-phobes (“It’s hard for me to put my arms around you when your backpack’s on”). LISTEN TO: “I Haven’t Been Taking Care of Myself”

“Blue Smoke - The Music of Merle Travis,” Cousin Harley. Covers of songs by a guy you’ve probably never heard of by a band you’ve probably never heard of, and it’s a shame in both cases. Country Music Hall of Famer Travis was probably best known for “Sixteen Tons,” which gets the cover treatment here along with cheeky, lesser-heard tracks like “Deep South” and “So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed.” And Cousin Harley, led by Canadian rockabilly artist Paul Pigat, is the perfect conduit for Travis’ fingerpicking brilliance. LISTEN TO: “Smoke Smoke Smoke That Cigarette”

“The Dustbowl Revival,” The Dustbowl Revival. A decade in, the eight-piece combo from Los Angeles releases its funkiest collection of down-home, horn-driven Americana and blue-eyed soul, with gorgeous tales of resilience (“Debtor’s Prison”) and rough-and-ready romance (“Good Egg”). If there’s a better matched pair of lead vocalists right now than Liz Beebe and band founder Zach Lupetin, I don’t know who it is. LISTEN TO: “The Story”

“Ella at Zardi’s,” Ella Fitzgerald. Yes, I know there are a million live recordings of Ella, but this intimate 1956 set has a terrific song selection that goes beyond the regulars, with lively and exquisite takes on classics like “A Fine Romance” and “How High The Moon,” and Fitzgerald’s otherworldly scatting well represented on tracks like “Bernie’s Tune” and “Airmail Special.” Besides, I’d listen to an entire album of just Ella’s between-song banter and her delightful improvisations when she forgets the words. LISTEN TO: “Lullaby of Birdland”

“Highway Queen,” Nikki Lane. It’s not every singer, country or otherwise, who can kick off an album with the lyric “Yippee-Ki-Yay” and actually pull it off, but Lane does so and then some on her unapologetically twangy third album. From the title track’s spooky menace to the doo-wop chug of the lilting “Companion” and the familiar country melancholy of the album’s closing ballad “Forever Lasts Forever,” Lane’s reign seems assured by “Highway Queen.” LISTEN TO: “700,000 Rednecks”

“Feel Your Feelings Fool!,” The Regrettes. The L.A. punk band with a Runaways vibe and a take-no-prisoners attitude definitely makes a splash with its first studio release, a high-energy, gloriously garagey set that makes the perfect soundtrack to the Time’s Up era. Lead singer Lydia Night’s righteous vocals on tracks like “How It Should Be” and “A Living Human Girl” (“sometimes I'm happy and sometimes I'm not; I'm still gonna be here even after your best shot”) make it perfectly clear that basing life choices on men’s expectations is so last century. LISTEN TO: “Hey Now”

“Rule 62,” Whitney Rose. Like fellow recent country standouts Kacey Musgraves and Maren Morris, Whitney Rose has no need for vocal pyrotechnics or sleight-of-hand overproduction -- this is unadorned, confident country music, complete with lilting melodies and lyrics that are refreshingly sap-free. Down-home stompers like “Arizona” coexist beautifully with sad country ballads like “You Never Cross My Mind” and quirky story songs like “Trucker’s Funeral” to make this one a must-have for purists who don’t mind their country singers being Canadian. LISTEN TO: “You Don’t Scare Me”

Peter Chianca is news director for Wicked Local's North of Boston unit. Follow him on Twitter at @pchianca. For a Spotify playlist of the albums, visit' Pete's blog at http://bit.do/petespop.